My angel’s story… Whitney was born with a right club foot, right torticollis and right hemiplegia. It seemed to be all the right side of her body. She had casting of the foot to re-position it every 5 to 7 days for 6 consecutive months. The initial surgery on September 27, 1999, was successful! The foot was corrected. However, the pins from the hospital used to hold her foot together, in her little 9-month-old body, was infected with staph infection… the infection was septic in her blood stream, this little angel underwent 5 surgeries in 4 days to save her life and her foot. To date, this angel has endured 12 trauma reconstructive surgeries, 73 IV’s, 15 hospitalizations, countless ER visits, lab work, pre-op and post-operative visits, physical and occupational therapies. Whitney’s diagnoses are as follows: Seizure Disorder; ADHD, Predominately Inattentive Type; Learning Disability; Mixed Receptive Expressive Language Disorder; Anxiety Disorder; Borderline Intellectual Functioning; Developmental Delays; Central Auditory Processing Disorder; Migraine Headaches; Multiple Surgeries to correct clubbing of the right foot.

“God!” I found myself crying out, “Aren’t you paying attention? What happened to the ‘hedge of protection’ and the ‘guardian angels,’ I asked you to provide for our children?” “Why would you do this to her God!” Almost immediately I sensed God’s answer. “I am protecting Whitney,” he spoke to my heart. “In fact, I’ve had to put some of my best angels on the job, just to keep her alive!”

You can always pray with confidence, knowing that what Satan means for harm, God uses for good – even when human eyes can’t see any possible way to turn tragedy into triumph. How can I be so confident? First, because God promised that he will hear me when he said, “Call to me and I will answer you.” Not only that, but I know that when I turn God’s promises in to prayers for my children, the words carry power! Whitney is alive, tenacious, gorgeous, walks, runs, loves to cook (Emeril is her favorite). She wants to be a Chef, a Pilot, and loves horses!

Whitney still has a procedure to endure and overcome at Dell’s Children’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas, under the care of an extraordinary Pediatric Orthopedic Trauma Reconstructive Surgeon, Dr. Robert Dehne, M.D. We will live in Austin, TX all next summer for her to complete a 2 to 3 month reconstructive surgery process to the foot called ‘framework’ or she will undergo amputation and given prosthesis. Either of these options for her makes us cringe; however, I know either procedure will finally provide her with a quality of life she would have never had without it! She will be able to run without pain, stress fractures in her foot, shin splints and who knows could be in the Olympics one day! Angel-Ride is making this opportunity for Whitney possible. Angel-Ride provided our $1,000 fuel bill to Austin and back to Alabama along with grocery money! The Angel-Ride Foundation is one of the graces God has provided for Whitney. Thank you Angel-Ride for financially making a way for Whitney to go from tragedy to triumph!

This is a picture of Whitney Elizabeth Hemphill at the 2008 Hot Air Balloon Festival. Angel-Ride Foundation partnered with Baldwin EMC and Touchstone Energy to provide sweet Whitney with a Hot Air Balloon ride! WOW!! What an amazing boost that was for me and Whitney!